Before we fully close the door on 2025, here’s one last sweep through notable Linux application updates released in December that didn’t quite warrant standalone coverage—but still deserve attention.
Big launches are sure to dominate early 2026. For now, this roundup is a look back at smaller (yet meaningful) releases that quietly landed as the year wrapped up.
darktable 5.4.0
The open-source RAW photo editor darktable received a substantial update that photographers will appreciate.
A new tone-mapping engine inspired by Blender’s AgX workflow introduces clearer white and black point controls, adjustable curve pivots, and independent contrast handling for shadows and highlights.
Long-requested workspace support has finally arrived, allowing users to maintain multiple databases and configurations. This is especially handy for separating professional work from personal projects—or for testing edits without touching your main library.
Other improvements include integrated capture sharpening in the demosaic module, performance boosts (notably when working with NAS or HDD storage), and improved ICC profile handling under Wayland.
Camera compatibility also expands, with support added for models like the Canon EOS R1 and R5 Mark II, Fujifilm X-E5, Nikon Z fc, Sony ZV-1M2, and Leica Q3 Monochrome, alongside refreshed color matrices and noise profiles.
darktable is available for Linux, Windows, and macOS. Linux users can grab an AppImage or install via Flathub (currently unverified). As always, backing up your library before upgrading is strongly recommended.
Clapper 0.10.0
The Clapper media player continues evolving, reaching version 0.10.0 with further expansion of its enhancer plugin system. Features like MPRIS, server support, and media discovery have now moved into plugins, reinforcing Clapper’s dual role as both an app and a reusable media framework.
Plugins can be managed from the settings UI, and developers can create their own using Lua. There’s also a new audio-only widget aimed at building lightweight audio players, with example code provided.
End users gain frame-by-frame stepping, previewing GStreamer pipelines from the info panel, improved playback speed icons, cross-window drag-and-drop between playlists, and better playlist parsing. Several stability fixes are included, particularly around video resizing issues.
Clapper is free and open source, available on Linux (via Flathub and some distro repos) and Windows.
QEMU 10.2.0
Virtualization heavyweight QEMU rolled out version 10.2, incorporating more than 2,300 commits from nearly 200 contributors.
One of the standout changes is a new live update migration mode that allows running virtual machines to be updated with lower overhead. The switch to io_uring for the main event loop may also bring performance benefits.
Architecture support continues to grow: ARM emulation gains new CPU features, HPPA users can emulate an HP 715/64 workstation, PowerPC adds PowerNV11 and PPE42 support, and FreeBSD hosts finally get 9pfs shared filesystem support.
Given the scope of changes, users relying heavily on QEMU should review deprecations carefully. QEMU is available across Linux, Windows, macOS, and BSD systems via multiple distribution channels, starting from the official website.
Raspberry Pi Imager 2.0.3
Following its recent redesign, Raspberry Pi Imager received two incremental updates focused on speed and reliability.
Image writing is now faster thanks to I/O optimizations, along with bottleneck detection and live progress reporting. Power users can trigger a detailed timing breakdown—saved as JSON—by pressing Ctrl + Shift + P during a write.
Smaller usability improvements include a show/hide toggle for password fields, restored support for multiple SSH keys, better screen-reader accessibility, and refreshed icons for macOS 26 Tahoe plus scalable SVG assets on Linux.
Raspberry Pi Imager remains free and open source, available for Windows, macOS, and Linux via the official site or GitHub.
MPV 0.41.0
The minimalist media player MPV released version 0.41.0, switching to libplacebo’s gpu-next renderer by default. This brings performance gains and stronger HDR handling. On supported systems, Vulkan hardware decoding is now preferred.
Wayland users benefit from improved color management via new protocols, tablet input support, and clipboard integration. Additional enhancements include a buffering indicator in the on-screen controls, frame stepping, and a collection of new command-line options.
MPV remains one of the most portable open-source players available, running across nearly all major operating systems.
ONLYOFFICE 9.2.1
After the feature-heavy ONLYOFFICE 9.2 release earlier in December, a point update arrived to address user-reported issues.
Version 9.2.1 fixes text wrapping problems with Korean content, resolves spreadsheet copy-paste overlap bugs, and patches numerous PDF editor crashes related to opening, scrolling, and editing documents.
Security updates close vulnerabilities involving XSS injection, comment editing fields, and potential memory manipulation during spreadsheet conversion. Notably, Linux ARM64 support is now officially included—a long-requested addition.
ONLYOFFICE desktop apps are free and open source for Linux, Windows, and macOS. AI features require external API keys or a local language model. Downloads are available via the official site, GitHub, Snap, and Flatpak.
Scribus 1.6.5 (Stable) and 1.7.1 (Development)
Desktop publishing tool Scribus shipped version 1.6.5 as a maintenance update to its stable branch, addressing light/dark theme inconsistencies, eyedropper issues, and font rendering during PDF export. A security fix also removes support for loading remote SVG content.
Meanwhile, the development track advances with Scribus 1.7.1, building on the major 1.7.0 changes. New additions include searchable preferences, a document activity log, and further security hardening.
Scribus is free and open source for Linux, Windows, and macOS, with downloads available from the project’s install page.
That wraps up December’s quieter—but still important—Linux app updates. With the groundwork laid, 2026 is already shaping up to be a busy year.
